Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden apparently want to pool their air defense forces in the face of the Russian threat. The four Scandinavian countries have therefore founded a Nordic air defense alliance in which they are pooling the resources of their air forces. Together, they have more than 300 combat, training, transport and surveillance aircraft as well as helicopters.
As announced on March 24, the four Northern European air commanders and Major Generals Juha-Pekka Keränen (Finland), Jonas Wikman (Sweden), Rolf Folland (Norway) and Jan Dam (Denmark) signed a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) on March 16 during a meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The signing ceremony was also attended by US Air Force General James Hecker, head of the US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), US Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA) and NATO’s Allied Air Command.
Official wording
The agreement officially states: “This declaration strengthens Nordic cooperation and paves the way for further strengthening of the Nordic air forces. The ultimate goal is to be able to work seamlessly as one force by developing a Nordic warfare concept for joint air operations based on the already well-known NATO methodology.”
“This declaration strengthens Nordic cooperation and paves the way for further strengthening of the Nordic Air Force.
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“In the medium term, efforts will first focus on the preparation, execution and evaluation of exercise ‘Nordic Response 24’ from an air perspective, with a focus on the digital and pre-awarded AOC (Air Operations Center) development steps. On the horizon, long-term, sustainable solutions to meet this objective will be identified and established,” reads the jointly formulated document on that Air Defense Operations Concept (ADOC). In order to achieve this goal, the following objectives are being pursued:
- Integrated deployment planning and execution,
- integrated management and control,
- flexible and resilient deployment of the joint air forces,
- joint airspace monitoring and joint air situation picture, and
- joint training and exercises.
https://militaeraktuell.at/wir-haben-viele-plaene-in-der-schublade/ Der veröffentlichte Plan gibt keine spezifischen Zeitlinien für die Erreichung der oben genannte Ziele. Wie schnell die Kooperation in die Gänge kommt und wie die Zusammenarbeit genau funktionieren wird, bleibt daher abzuwarten. Derartige Überlegungen sind jedenfalls nichts Neues und bereits seit Mitte der 1990er-Jahre Gegenstand regelmäßiger Diskussionen zwischen den nordischen Regierungen. Nun aber hat die Tatsache, dass alle vier Länder Teil der NATO sind, beziehungsweise im Falle von Finnland und Schweden kurz vor einem Beitritt stehen, dieses „Luft-Bündnis” realisierbar gemacht. Jede der vier Luftwaffen bringt dabei spezifische Fähigkeiten ein, obwohl sie grundsätzlich viel gemeinsam haben. Dazu kommt: Durch die Bündelung der Kräfte können die Luftraumüberwachung sowie Luftverteidigungsaufgaben im gesamten Raum effizienter und wirksamer umgesetzt werden, zudem können etwaige Missionspläne weitaus flexibler und für einen Gegner unberechenbarer gestaltet werden.
Because of Russia, of course
Incidentally, Russia is not mentioned anywhere in the document. But “the step towards deeper integration of the air forces” is nevertheless a reaction to Moscow’s war of aggression in Ukraine in Ukraine. This is intended to prevent similar scenarios in the Baltic Sea region and the Baltic States, as confirmed by the commander of the Danish Air Force, Major General Jan Dam. At the same time, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen are probably also looking to exploit synergies. In an era of increasingly complex threats from the air – from fixed-wing aircraft such as fighter planes and bombers to low-flying cruise missiles, swarms of drones and hypersonic weapons – pooling forces for air defense makes far more sense than going it alone at great expense. This applies to both strategic and economic/financial aspects. And it is especially true when it comes to a common opponent, even if in some capabilities common cause should perhaps only be made to a certain extent. Based on similar considerations, numerous European countries – including Norway and Finland – are currently also planning to develop the Sky Shield air defense system. Austria is also interested in becoming part of the initiative.
Combined fleet of F-35 and Gripen
“Our joint fleet can be compared to that of a large European country,” says Danish Air Chief Dam. “We also want to integrate our airspace surveillance more closely so that we can share radar data from the surveillance systems of the other armed forces. We don’t do that today.” Norway (soon) has 52 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters in active service, while its F-16 fleet is already being phased out. Finland will continue to operate 62 F/A-18C/D Hornets until 2030 and has ordered ordered 64 F-35s as a replacement. Denmark will continue to fly 58 F-16s until 2027 and has ordered 27 F-35s, the first of which are due to arrive this fall. Sweden’s Flygvapnet is the only country with its own high-value manufacturer and has around 70 Saab JAS-39C/D Gripen jets and will be upgraded to 60 of the advanced single-seater Gipen-E in the coming years, while the two-seater D models are to remain.
“We want to integrate our airspace surveillance more closely so that we can share radar data from the surveillance systems of other armed forces.”
Further thoughts
Norway’s Air Chief Major General Rolf Folland already sees the now formalized idea as a basis for the creation of a joint Nordic center for air operations, which could also accommodate the United States and Canada under a single command structure: “There is an obvious interest in a regional initiative for a joint air command on NATO’s northern flank. We know the conditions in the far north well and can learn a lot from each other.” The last operational NATO headquarters in Norway, the Combined Air Operation Center (CAOC-3) in Reitan, east of Bodø, was closed in 2008 and responsibility was transferred to the NATO CAOC Finderup in Denmark.
Three years ago, Militär Aktuell editor Georg Mader interviewed the Norwegian F-35 program officer, Lieutenant Colonel Martin “Tintin” Tesli. Here he explains the existing basis for cooperationon which the four Nordic air forces now want to build their intensification.
